Success in life after exams

Based on the successful pilot in two schools in 2017, the XVenture Schools Program launched in 11 Sydney schools building confidence, emotional intelligence, resilience and leadership skills in students in years 10 and 11.

Sep 26, 2018

Based on the successful pilot in two schools in 2017, the XVenture Schools Program launched in 11 Sydney schools this year focusing on building confidence, emotional intelligence (EQ), resilience and leadership skills in students in years 10 and 11.

The XVenture Schools Program, which is delivered by specially trained teachers from within participating schools, consists of six stages delivered over 12 weeks with a blend of face-to-face, experiential, online, reflective practice and employer integration and was created by emotional intelligence, resilience and leadership expert, Mike Conway.

“Recent statistics predict there will be about 516,600 job openings per year from 2017-2024 in Australia, with some 200,000 new jobs in South-Western Sydney alone. It is likely many of these jobs will need to be filled by local people, yet research suggests school leavers are lacking certain skills required in the workplace and life,” says Conway.

“Furthermore, it’s been suggested for some time that people with higher levels of EQ are better leaders and better equipped to deal with change and pressure. Our program aims to better equip students in years 10 and 11 with enhanced social skills, emotional intelligence, resilience and confidence for life after exams.”

“Via a diagnostic tool and the students’ reflective essays, not only have we seen improved confidence and composure but also better communication and acknowledgement of their areas of development. Students have recognised they have the most powerful impact on their performance and not outside factors.”

Across the participating schools, 84% of students noticed a change in their behaviour by the end of the program. Furthermore, all students who completed the program had a shift of 5–13% in their levels of EQ (self-awareness, self-management, motivation, empathy and social skills.)

Magdalene Catholic High School was one of the schools who participated in the program. Assistant Principal Jennifer Foldes says, “We have seen the positive outcome of the program in building emotional intelligence, resilience and leadership skills in students. The program is designed using experiential learning and offers students the opportunity to work in teams collaboratively and build their social skills."

The XVenture Schools Program is built on XVenture’s work, with elite sports teams, corporates, universities and families globally over the past six years.

For schools to be eligible to offer the program, one or two educators from the school are trained over 1-2 days in a fully immersive experiential personal and professional development course hosted at the University of Wollongong and lead by Conway and the XVenture coaching team.

Expressions of interest are now open via XVenture’s website for Schools nationwide to participate in the next round of the XVenture Schools Educator Training and implement the XVenture Schools Program in 1000 schools nationwide by the end of 2019.